Tour de Suisse: Geraint Thomas second after Kristijan Durasek wins stage two
Last Updated: 14/06/15 6:41pm
Geraint Thomas moved up to second overall after Kristijan Durasek took victory in the second stage of the Tour de Suisse.
Thomas was constantly on the attack over the last 20kms of the stage, which started and finished in Risch-Rotkreuz, but it was a late break by the Lampre-Merida rider that proved the difference.
The Team Sky rider went to the front on the second ascent of the Michaelskreuz climb, with only Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Julian Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) able to cope with his acceleration.
He continued to press on the descent but, with little help from his fellow breakaway riders, a slightly larger lead group formed, including the eventual stage winner and prologue victor Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).
A number of riders, including Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) and Daniel Moreno (Katusha), tried to sprint clear in the closing stages but they were all caught sleeping when Durasek, who won the Tour of Turkey in early May, kicked just after they moved into the final kilometre.
The response from the remaining eight chasers came too late and they crossed the line four seconds behind the Croatian, Moreno finishing second ahead of Arredondo with a clearly frustrated Thomas back in fifth.
But that finish was enough to lift the Welshman up from 10th to second, still seven seconds behind Dumoulin who finished last of those in the group four seconds down.
World champion Michal Kwiatkowski, one of the favourites to win the race beforehand, trailed in more than 10 minutes down.
Second stage result:
1 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida 3hrs 36mins 52secs
2 Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha +4s
3 Julian Arredondo (Col) Trek Factory Racing st
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr st
5 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky st
6 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha st
7 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana st
8 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana st
9 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin st
10 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo +14s
Overall standings:
1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin 3hrs 42mins 37secs
2 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky +7s
3 Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha +11s
4 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana +14s
5 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo +15s
